Panthers will tag Greg Hardy

With less than three days remaining in the two-week window for using the franchise tag, no team has applied the primary restriction on otherwise unrestricted free agency.

And while the Panthers haven’t officially used it yet on defensive end Greg Hardy, the team has told Hardy that it will.

Per a league source, the Panthers have informed Hardy that the tag will be applied before Monday’s deadline for using it. He’ll be entitled to a one-year guaranteed salary of roughly $12 million, if/when he accepts the tender.

The Panthers have rescind the tender at any time, making Hardy a free agent. The Panthers also can trade Hardy to another team.

The $10 million increase in the salary cap, coupled with the Panthers clearing more than $7 million in cap space via restructurings, makes it easier to carry Hardy at an eight-figure cap number. A long-term deal would undoubtedly reduce the cap charge for 2014. Trading him would drive it all the way to zero.

The Panthers also could try to create some cap space by restructuring the contract of defensive end Charles Johnson. His cap number currently exceeds $16 million.

The use of the tag on Hardy, who racked up 26 sacks over the last two years combined, means that the team’s other unrestricted free agents will hit the open market on March 11.

22 responses to “Panthers will tag Greg Hardy”

This cap room is turning out to be a bad thing for my Raiders! We already had plenty of cap space but now all of the elite players who were probably going to hit the market an staying put. Maclin, Hardy, Butler and I’m sure Orakpo! We must go after Michael Johnson with a fury! Overpay if we must and front load so his cap number will be in line for our future years! Or Trade out 2nd for Dion Jordan!

Smith is already signed. The question in his regard is whether he will be cut, restructure his contract, or be traded. The latter of these being the least likely.

As regards Hardy, I think the Panthers did what they had to do. The question still remains regarding whether he will be traded. This factor makes his salary demands important as a team is only likely to trade for him if a new contract can be negotiated.

i love the panthers but they’ve got to upgrade both tackle spots with gross retiring. byron bell is terrible. the guards are a ?. need a #1 and WR also need to resign most the secondary. they’re not a playoff team imo

Tagging Hardy is a front office failure. Only a long term deal with him would mean success. It means Gettleman did not get a deal done.

It basically amounts to doing nothing. All the praise for Gettleman is unwarranted. He gets credit for restructuring a few guys, but if Johnson and Smitty refuse to restructure, you’re still behind the 8 ball.

How can you not sign this guy? 15 sacks, 25 years old. You can’t afford to get this guy upset over contract issues. Sign him asap, or he will move to another team. Best defensive player on your squad. Why would you franchise him?

petezjunior he is NOT the best defensive player on the quad. he might not even be the 4th best defensive player on the team. davis, in my opinion, had the best season, followed by luke. cj’s sack number wasn’t as high but while he is good rushing the quarterback, he is excellent against the run. the other name i’d throw out is star. like johnson, his stats weren’t indicative of his production, but he garnered double teams constantly. don’t get me wrong, i am not saying hardy is expendable. just that he isn’t the best.

Using the tag on him makes perfect sense. It buys you time to keep negotiating with Johnson, Smith and possibly D Williams to restructure. Then you can hopefully sign Hardy to a long term deal and go ahead and get Cam sewn up too. Lastly we still have to prepare for Luke to be re signed in a couple years.

This is a smart move by Gettleman. The Panthers have used the tag twice before that resulted in signing long term deals before the season even started. Khalil and Gross both did it. Only two other tags used in franchise history: Peppers and the great Punter Todd Saurbrun.

turfdaddy says:
Feb 28, 2014 6:40 PM
Using the tag on him makes perfect sense. It buys you time to keep negotiating with Johnson, Smith and possibly D Williams to restructure. Then you can hopefully sign Hardy to a long term deal and go ahead and get Cam sewn up too. Lastly we still have to prepare for Luke to be re signed in a couple years.

This is a smart move by Gettleman. The Panthers have used the tag twice before that resulted in signing long term deals before the season even started. Khalil and Gross both did it. Only two other tags used in franchise history: Peppers and the great Punter Todd Saurbrun.
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Doing what you have to do because you DIDN’T get a contract signed DOES NOT make it a smart move … It makes it THE ONLY MOVE. So why does Gettleman deserve extra credit for NOT locking up a guy we need?